Always Alright: Story I Back In Black
by doelion
Summary: Cas comes to protect Sam and Dean from an ambiguous monster that has been killing angels and now seems to be after Sam and Dean. But is it really out to kill them? [OC Season 8. NOTE: there will be sequels. xxDOE]
1. Chapter 1

Sam Winchester sat sullenly in the speeding Impala as his brother, Dean, smacked his calloused hands against the wheel, mouthing the guitar solo to an AC/DC song he'd heard at least a thousand times. Sam's patience began to wear thin, his pursing lips only a small sign of the impatience brewing inside of him.

"Dean," Sam snapped in his paternal tone, "why do you have to do that?"

Dean looked over to his brother with a confused furrowed eyebrow as he replied, "Do what?"

"That!" Sam gestured angrily at Dean in general, "Listen to stupid, old rock music and annoyingly tap your hands against the wheel _right_ after a job!"

"Hey," Dean retorted, squinting his eyes and puckering his lips as he ignored the road and turned his attention towards Sam. Only Dean's "I'm-your-big-brother-so-shut-up" look could battle that of Sam's condescending paternal one, which he wore valiantly as he continued, "Like I said before, driver calls the shots for music. No complaining, Big Foot. Secondly, we did an awesome job on that case! Excuse me for wanting to celebrate a little."

Dean returned his gaze to the road, confident in every word. However, it was evident that Sam still didn't see eye-to-eye, although his tone had gotten a little more defensive now, "It was just a salt-and-burn job, Dean. No big deal."

But Dean didn't want to hear it. It was the same old routine over and over again, almost as old as "Back In Black". Dean would tell Sam that at least they were saving lives, and Sam would question if they were really making an impact at all, and Dean would tell him that of course they were and to shut up, but of course Sam would drag it out. Dean just didn't want to deal with that bull shit right now. He just wanted to get back to his room in their "Bat Cave".

So Dean dropped the subject as he turned the Impala onto the dirt road that you would miss if you blinked. The road twisted and turned along a forest, and then suddenly there was a cement wall and stairs leading down to the door that held their new home that had once been the "Men Of Letters" stronghold.

* * *

"You want a burger or somethin'?" Dean asked Sam as they made their way inside, trotting downstairs and to the foyer to drop off their bags as Sam turned on the lights and water.

"Yeah, sounds good!" Sam called down below. He waited a moment. There was no reply, not even a grunt.

"Dean?" Sam called again. No response.

Sam's jaw clenched as he rushed downstairs, calling out Dean's name again. He entered the foyer quickly, saying, "Dean, why won't you—"

His response was cut off by what he saw: Dean embracing Castiel.

Immediately, Dean noticed Sam and broke away from Cas, coughing and wiping at his eyes quickly as his gruff voice replied a little more weakly than Sam felt comfortable with, "Yeah, yeah, I'm here, Sammy. And Cas, too."  
Sam decided to ignore Dean's moment of weakness as he walked over to Cas with a smile, patting him on the shoulder as he said, "Hey, Cas! Didn't expect you. What's up?"  
"Well, currently the ceiling," Cas replied with his monotonous, deep voice, "However, if you return outside then it is the sky, and above that is—"

"Not what I mean, Cas," Sam said with a patient smile, "I meant, what are you doing here?"

"I fear you two are in danger," Cas said, his tone more serious than usual. Dean turned around and asked, "In danger? From what?"

Cas sighed strictly, walking around one of the long desks that filled the library hall as he said, "We're not sure. However, we are certain it involves you two—as usual—and that it is very dangerous."  
"Well, what is it?" Sam asked. Cas's back had been turned to them, and he stayed that way, not responding to Sam and being as still as a statue.

"Cas...?" Dean asked softly. To Dean's call, Cas took a deep breath and turned around, obvious pain shown on his face as he replied, "It's killed ten angels."

"Ten?!" Sam replied dubiously, "That's not possible! Not even for vamps or werewolves! Not even an alpha!"  
"Well, it is so. And it is making its way towards Lebanon, Kansas."

"That's here!" Dean acknowledged.

"Yes, so I have been sent to protect you for as long as needed," Cas replied.

"Of course, thank you, Cas. Really," Sam nodded, with a smile that wasn't all together there.

"Alright, so let's go then," Cas said, already walking towards the entrance. Dean called back, "Wait, Cas! We just got back from a hunt, can't we at least rest a while?"

Cas stopped and turned back quickly, "There is no time, it is moving quickly. We must reach Tulsa Oklahoma before sunrise. Hurry."

And with that Cas turned on his heels, a small sound of fluttering wings was created, and he had disappeared (presumably into the Impala).

"Damn angels," Dean muttered, "Ok, let's go, Sammy."

"Wait, wait, wait," Sam replied, holding Dean back as he started to walk away again, "We're just going to leave? We're not going to confront this thing?"

"Sam, you heard Cas, it killed ten angels. We'll go to Tulsa, do some research so we're a little more prepared, and it'll follow. Then we'll gank it. Now c'mon, let's go," Dean replied, starting to walk towards the entrance again. Sam held onto him, though, "Dean, doesn't this seem a little suspicious to you?"

Dean sighed and squinted his eyes back at Sam, always giving him the benefit of the doubt, "Ok, Sam, what do you want to do. Stay here and risk the chance of dying?"  
"Well, you heard what Henry said, this was the Men of Letters' stronghold, the safest place in the world! Much safer than _Tulsa_!" Sam replied dramatically.

"Yeah, but if Cas is right then it won't be for much longer," Dean replied, feeling his anger build up dangerously. All Sam could do was sigh.

Dean took a deep breath and replied, "Look, I don't want to leave this place either, ok? But I trust Cas. And I think he knows what's best right now. We'll go for a few days until Cas thinks it's safe enough, see if we can find anything, and then we'll come back. Sound good?"

Sam sighed a little more softly this time, did a small eye roll, and then nodded. Dean nodded back and grabbed the bag he had just lain on the wooden desk from their recently finished hunt before replying, "Ok, get packed up and we'll meet you in the Impala."


	2. Chapter 2

The drive to Tulsa from Lebanon had been about a six hour ordeal, leaving the already agitated Sam even more upset and the exhausted Dean completely drained. Cas, on the other hand...

"I have to say, I'm quite excited about this coming days with you two," a perky Cas chirped from the backseat.

"Yeah, yeah. Us too, Cas," Dean mumbled to him from the front, rubbing his sleep deprived eyes as they rolled into a Motel 8.

"And I cannot wait to join in on your celebratory beer drinking," Cas added shyly. Dean grunted in reply.

After checking in and getting some cups of watery coffee from the hotel's snack bar, Dean and Sam dragged themselves to their room to meet hours of research. Cas was already in the room as they entered, going through the books Sam had brought from the stronghold.

"I praise you, Sam. These books will be of great use for our search on the monster," Cas said to Sam as he examined one book's spine.

"Thanks, Cas," he and Dean grabbed a book and sat down before he continued, "So, what can you tell us about this 'monster'?"

"Nothing of use," Cas mumbled, setting down the book and moving to the small window, "It leaves only a trail of blood of my brethren."

"Could be demon," Dean suggested with a shrug.

"No, " Cas replied, turning back to them, "We would be able to sense him. This...thing...has Enochian sigils or something similar. It was even a trial for Kevin to get a prophecy on the creature."

"Wait, Kevin's in on this? What did he say?" Dean asked, astonished.

"Yes, we were quite desperate. He is not particularly as skilled in predicting the future as Chuck. It was difficult for him, but he said that the being would find us in Tulsa, Oklahoma and there 'break destiny for Dean by stopping death but bringing it as well'," Cas said darkly.

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" Dean asked, a little irritated by the abstract words the Advanced Placement prophet had chosen. Hadn't the damn kid known that he was speaking to a man with a proud G.E.D.?

"Ok, well, is there anything else, Cas? Because this isn't a lot to go on. I don't even know where to start!" Sam said.

"Yeah, really!" Dean added.

"Well," Cas added hesitantly, suddenly very fidgety and uncomfortable looking, "There was something rather abnormal about their deaths..."

There was a long pause of silence of which Dean and Sam leaned in onto the edge of their seats, waiting for Cas to continue, before Dean finally egged him to continue, "Well?"

Cas cleared his throat and mumbled, "Their wings were severed."

Dean and Sam eyebrows raised simultaneously at this. Both were speechless before Dean stuttered out, "Severed?"

"Yes. Severed. Detached from their celestial bodies," Cas acknowledged.

"What do you mean?" Sam pursued.

"That their wings were detached from their bodies," Cas repeated.

"No, Cas, buddy," Dean reworded as Sam sighed impatiently, "Like paint a picture for us. Figuratively!"

"Well, usually when an angel dies their wings are burned into the surrounding ground where the murder occurred due to the neurons in the atmosphere juxtaposing with the super-molecules of—"

"Short and sweet, Cas!" Dean interrupted with a smile.

"Right...Well, in this circumstance we found the lifeless bodies, however the wings were lying nearby," Cas explained.

"And have angels ever heard of this?" Sam asked.

"No. Never," Cas answered a little too loudly.  
Dean and Sam shifted uncomfortably in their seats as well. A small beam of doubt poisoned their minds at Cas's words. However, that happened to them quite often, but it always turned out to be something they could handle. And with Cas on their side, they could stop this thing—whatever it was.

"Ok! Well then that's something to go on. Let's start!" Sam said with a little grimace, turning to the pile of text. Dean and Cas as well sank into their each individual book, searching for anything that could save them all.


	3. Chapter 3

"This is pointless!" Dean yelled as he slammed a book shut after two days of research. "There's nothing here! Sammy, please tell me you've got _something_?"

"Nothing," a dejected Sam replied.

"Cas," Dean sighed, "any word from above?"

"Nothing from me as well," Cas replied sullenly.

"Great," Dean muttered and downed the rest of the whiskey in his glass.

"When is this supposed prophecy supposed to occur?" Sam asked Cas from his laptop.

"This coming week," Cas replied. They were all silent. The prophecy had been daunting, especially for Dean, but he had seen worse. The silence dragged on, only broken by the occasional turn of a page from a book they had already searched through before and the typing of keys from Sam on his laptop. Finally, the silence was broken by Sam, saying, "Hey, Dean. Check this out."

Dean dragged himself up and out of the chair, shuffling over to Sam's shoulder as he groaned out a, "What?"

Sam brought up a window as Dean reached his shoulder, saying, "There's been murders here in Tulsa. Of people being found dead with their hearts ripped out. Three so far."

"Werewolf," Dean muttered, astonished.

"Yeah, which means—" Sam started before Cas interrupted, "—That you two would've been in Tulsa this week without my assistance anyway."

"Yeah," Sam finished. Dean stood straight and rubbed his hand against his mouth, thinking of what to do. He turned to Sam and Cas, "Maybe it's the werewolf?!"

Sam shook his head, "This thing's been killing angels for weeks, these from the deaths werewolf spread back across that time. Pretty sound alibi if you're off killing somebody else."

"Right, right," Dean muttered to himself, rubbing his mouth some more and thinking. He snapped his fingers, "Maybe Mother is back? Y'know, makin' more Jefferson Starships? Huh?"

"I don't think so," Sam sighed, "We ganked her, remember?"

"In addition, Heaven would've gotten word of such an occurrence," Cas added.

"Dammit!" Dean yelled, grabbing his coat and storming towards the door.

"Woah, Dean, where are you going?" Sam asked quickly.

"To get the werewolf, genius! C'mon!" Dean commanded as he treaded out. Sam rolled his eyes and shut his laptop. He gave a long sigh as he got up from his seat and said to Cas, "You heard Dean, let's go get this guy before—"

A flutter of wings and as Sam looked behind him, Cas had gone.

"Great," Sam muttered to himself as he holstered his gun and got his jacket, following Dean out the door and to the Impala.


	4. Chapter 4

The trio had decided on not impersonating the police, partly because the murders described in the paper seemed rather sloppy and easy to track back, and also because Sam and Dean were not confident in Cas's ability to act as anything other than angel.

And as expected, by sundown that same day through sometimes brutal and sometimes easy interrogations they were able to discern who the werewolf was and where his whereabouts would be that night.  
A young a man fresh out of college who had gotten a job as a cook for a local bar, keeping his nose clean and bills paid, until he was walking through the park one night when a werewolf attacked him... A homeless man who had witnessed the first attack and whom lived in the park assured the trio that he showed up every night.

* * *

So there Dean, Sam, and Cas sat on a wet park bench, waiting for the werewolf to come. It was rather quiet and the air was still and peaceful, the usual atmosphere that a regular ol' case created. However, Dean seemed a little off, and Cas was the only one who seemed to sense this disturbance.

"Is everything alright, Dean?" Cas asked. Dean shook his head slowly and looked off into the distance as he answered, "It just doesn't make sense, man."

"What doesn't?" Sam asked.

"This whole prophecy! I mean, I'm gettin' real tired of waiting for someone to stop this 'death'!" Dean yelled.

"Well, maybe it'll come during the jump on the werewolf," Sam reassured.

"Nah, I'm not going to get almost killed by some run-of-the-mill werewolf," Dean said, shaking his head again, "I'm just telling you that this whole thing just seems off to me..."

"We'll find it, Dean," Cas said, seemingly comforting himself more than Dean.

"Yeah," Dean said.

At that moment a breaking of branches followed by a growl was heard from behind them right as a bell tower in the distance struck twelve. All three heads turned, suddenly on high alert. Their ears were perked, bodies tense, waiting for another sound. It came: a howl to their left. The gang wasted no time.

Cas ran with Dean and Sam to the growls that followed in the distance. In between the trees a figure was able to be made out of a man clawing at the ground. Dean and Sam pulled out there guns with the silver bullets, but had no time to shoot it. The werewolf had heard there heavy footsteps approaching and ran towards them, dodging the bullets skillfully as Sam and Dean pulled their triggers.

The werewolf tackled Sam, ripping at his clothes and chest. Dean quickly aimed his gun as Sam grunted with pain, but again had no chance to shoot it. Cas grabbed the werewolf by the back of his clothes, pulling him off Sam, and with a massive amount of strength threw the snarling creature on the ground. He laid his hand on the werewolf's forehead and a bright light emanated from its eyes and mouth as Cas took the very life from it.

As Cas took the few seconds to kill the beast, and Sam lay on the ground in a little fit of pain, Dean felt something.  
An ominous feeling that he hadn't been able to shake the entire night.  
They weren't alone, he could feel it.

Dean looked over his shoulder as the white light left the werewolf's eyes along with its last breath, and Cas got up form where he knelt.  
There was nothing there, as Dean had expected. Just a rustle of dead leaves on the ground that was pushed by a wind that could do no harm. Yet...

"Dean," Cas called.

"Yeah," Dean said, coming back to reality and looking over to the angel.

"The deed is done," Cas said, gesturing to the lifeless werewolf. Then, Sam let out a small groan, "A little help here, Cas?"

Cas walked over to where Sam lay, bleeding, and laid his thumb and forefinger lightly on Sam's forehead, instantly relieving the pain and healing the wounds. Sam gave a sigh and a small thanks as Cas helped him up as well.

"Well," Sam said a little breathlessly to Dean, "no near death experiences for you at least."

"I'm telling you, dude, this just isn't right," Dean frowned.

"Well, what do you want to do? Jump out in front of a bus?" Sam sarcastically commented with a shrug.

Suddenly, Dean's eyes lit up. He looked up at Sam and said, "Oh my God, Sammy, you're a genius!" And with that, holstered his gun and started speed walking to the nearest street with an insane smile.

"No, wait, dude! You're not actually going to**—**" Sam called after, trailing behind him with Cas following.

"What?" Cas asked.

"C'mon, Sammy! Think about it! It's the only way will get it out in the open!" Dean called back, starting to run towards the street.

"Sam, what is Dean doing," Cas asked, grabbing onto Sam's arm frantically.

"I think he's going to jump in front of a goddamn bus," Sam said breathlessly, and out to Dean, "C'mon, Dean! This isn't funny! Don't be stupid!"

"Stupid works, Sammy! It's the only way!" Dean yelled, almost to the street now as a double-decker bus headed down the slippery road.

Suddenly, Sam realized that no, Dean was not joking. He was going to step in front of a bus. Dean was going to get hit by a bus. Sam broke out in a sprint, a confused angel struck bewildered at the situation that he could not grasp.  
Unfortunately, Dean was closer to the street than Sam was, and so just as Sam reached the sidewalk, Dean had already gotten onto the street. He outstretched his arms and stood right in the middle of the lane, the bus only a couple of yards away now, the headlights illuminating Dean's body as it started to honk loudly.

"DEAN!" Sam screamed right as the bus was about to make impact.


	5. Chapter 5

The bus's excruciating loud honking horn synchronized with Sam's yell for his brother. The bus didn't have time to swerve, it was about to make impact with Dean's body when suddenly a strong arm grabbed Dean's bicep and roughly tugged him off the street and onto the sidewalk.

The pull on Dean was so rough that he fell, not on the street though, on the person who had grabbed him from the closely reaching arms of danger. Both persons grunted at the fall, but Dean paid no mind to his weight crushing the person underneath him, his mind racing to only one thought right now: this was the monster.  
Dean quickly rolled off the person who had saved his life, pulling out his gun in the process. He rolled arms length away so he could lie on the ground with the person parallel to him and aim the gun too.

"Who are you?! Tell me!" Dean barked out. Adrenaline pumping in his ears mingled with his near-death experience and obscured his vision and thought, relying only on action.  
"Tell me or I shoot!" Dena yelled.

"Dean, are you alright?!" Sam yelled, running over to the other Winchester laying on the wet ground. He stopped short when he saw Dean pointing the gun at the person who had saved his life. A sudden rage filled Sam as he rushed over to his brother and stomped on the arm that was holding the gun. Dean bellowed out in pain and let go of the gun, turning his head to Sam and screaming, "What, are you crazy?!"

However, Sam wouldn't take that.  
Sam was about to give Dean a pummeling when suddenly Cas was by his side. Cas reached down and pulled Dean up by his collar, striking him across the face with a fist angrily, growling, "He is not the one who is in a state of insanity, Winchester. Check your place."

Sam rushed over to the other person lying on the ground and quickly took a hand and help the evident human up.  
"I'm so sorry for my brother, are you okay**—**" Sam cut off short. The person he had helped up with a small, petite young woman. It had been hard to tell from her lying on the darkened ground, but as she stood up the light from a nearby streetlight illuminated her chest-long, wavy, light-orange hair. The poor woman looked on the brink of tears, frightened out of her mind, her bright green eyes glistening and her full lips quivering and trying to stay strong.

"I-I'm fine, thank you," a tiny voice escaped from her.

"Are-are you sure?" was all Sam could think to say. The small woman only gave a nod and nervously gave a few nods, a small red scrape now apparent on her forehead from when Dean had fallen on her.

"I just hope your...brother? I hope he's alright..." the woman shyly added. She was shaking, not only because of the sudden gun that had been pulled on her, but from Sam's overwhelming stature. Sam felt that she seemed a little intimidated—seeing as she was only about 5'3"—so he stepped back a bit.

"Seriously, is there anything we can do?" Sam suggested, his eyebrows turning up apologetically.

"Um...no I'm ok...But, um, why does he," the woman gestured towards a struggling Dean before folding her arms over her chest defensively, "have a gun...?"

"You know damn well why I have a gun, you monster!" Dean shouted, breaking free of Cas's hold and moving towards the woman. She backed up more into the light and let go of her jacket that had been covering her voluptuous chest so she could raise her hands in protest. A few fat tears rolled out of her eyes in fright, tumbling down her soft paisley cheek, her shaky voice pleading, "I-I'm so sorry...I just didn't want anybody to get killed...I-I—"

When Dean got a full look at her—specifically her cleavage—he instantly let down a little. He gave small smile of fake peacefulness and grabbed the gun from the ground, keeping his eyes on the shivering woman as he holstered his it under his jacket.

"Dean, c'mon she's just a lady," Sam hissed to Dean.

Dean ignored his brother and reached into his inside pocket of his coat. The woman jumped at the gesture, at which Dean moved even slower and pulled out the FBI badge and bill-fold that he had put in his pocket before leaving the hotel. He handed it to her as slowly as possible.

"I'm sorry, miss, I didn't mean to frighten you. I'm Agent Hoult and this is my brother, also Agent Hoult, and our partner Agent Davis. And you are?" Dean asked as softly as his gruff voice would allow.

"H-heather...Heather Martial," Heather stuttered out, handing the FBI badge back to Dean. He took it hesitantly and looked her up and down before asking, "And where were you tonight, Heather?"

"O-over at the Yellowtail Bar and Club with some friends. A-am I in trouble?" She asked nervously.

"No, no. Thank you very much. Have a nice day," Dean said with a fake smile.

She nodded and quickly trotted away past them. When she passed Cas, however, she flinched a little and quickened her pace.

"Dean," Sam roared after the girl was a good distance away, "What the hell is your problem?!"

"Leave me alone, Sammy," Dean replied, shoving past him in the direction Heather had come from. Sam and Cas followed, Sam still not satisfied with an answer, "You could've died!"

"But I didn't! That woman 'stopped my death'! So I say let's go check out that club and see if she was really there or not," Dean boomed back.

"I agree," Cas interjected as Sam opened his mouth to protest.

"What?" Sam asked incredulously to Cas.

"I sensed something wrong with that woman," Cas replied.

"Yeah, that she had just gotten scared out of her wits from Dean pulling a gun on her!"

"Sam," Dean stopped him, "let's just go check the place out and if her alibi holds up that she wasn't stalking us then we all go home and no harm done, 'k?"

Sam took a deep breath, paused for a moment, and then nodded.

"Ok then," Dean finalized. He straightened his jacket roughly and then led the way to the Yellowtail Bar and Club.


	6. Chapter 6

Dean sat at the windowsill of the hotel while Sam slept and Cas read through a book on angels once again.

* * *

The night before, when Dean had jumped in front of that truck, they had returned back to the club the girl Heather said she had just visited. The trio did their best to ask around, but the music was at a screeching volume, and all the bartenders could tell the men was that they got plenty of pretty women named Heather through this way every night. It was a lost cause on that end.  
However, Dean was persistent, positive that there was something about her. Sam pushed back, but Cas had sided with Dean. So they had returned to their hotel room and searched for her name in the local police department's data base. Nothing.

The gang was distraught.  
After much debate on what to do next, Sam finally won Cas's opinion and it was decided that they should return to the Bat Cave where they had more resources and could better equip themselves before this thing really attacked, surely not in the form of some small lady.

* * *

And so Sam slept until they had to get up at 2A.M. to make the 6 hour journey back to Lebanon, KS.  
Dean couldn't sleep, not being able to shake off that same feeling he had gotten back in the park the night before. He bit at his thumb and brooded out the window, trying to listen to Cas silently read and turning pages. However, his mind barely let him stray from anything other than looking out the window and thinking of what the monster could possibly be. And where.

Soon, the hotel alarm clock buzzed at 2 and Sam woke up with a jolt. Rubbing his eyes he stumbled to the bathroom, washed off his face and mouth before stumbling back into the bedroom and grabbing the bags, mumbling, "Ready to go."

They checked out with a moody hostess, grabbed some more shit coffee from the lobby, and walked out of the Motel 6.

Dean had parked the Impala in a nearby parking garage, so the brothers tried feverishly to wake up their sleepy bones in the cold air night as they walked.

"Find anything, Cas?" Dean asked, referring to his night of reading.

"Nothing," Cas almost whispered, completely dejected like the other two.

* * *

The car was on the third level, and there was nothing that Dean would have rather seen. It was always his baby Impala that made all of this worth it, to know he would soon be behind that wheel. It was the only thing that made driving across the country bearable, and kept his tired eyes awake while he was driving back to some stupid state in the middle of the night.

And just as they were about to reach it, right as Dean was pulling the keys out of his pocket, a massive roar resonated from behind a car. They all turned, but it was too late. The gigantic werewolf lunged at Cas.

Cas did his best to knock the werewolf off of him, but it was too much. The werewolf bit and tore into Cas's arm. Dean pulled out his gun and shot it. However, this was not his gun with the silver bullets, so it did not serve a purpose but only to irritate it.

The werewolf snarled and turned to Dean, letting go of a semi torn Cas. Sam pulled out his weapon as well and shot it, however he only had regular bullets as well. But it didn't matter, the werewolf was dead set on getting Dean. It walked towards him, eyes red, fangs prominent, and brown, blood stained claws clenching. Dean shot and backed up. If only he could get to the back of the Impala, unlock the trunk and get the silver bullet cartridge, then—

The werewolf jumped for Dean, it was too late.  
Then, suddenly the werewolf's lunge was cut short by another opposing force. It was somebody equally as strong who had rammed right into the werewolf, propelling them both onto the roof of somebody's car, caving it almost completely in.

Quickly, the werewolf jumped off the car and back onto the ground, growling at the creature that was still on the hood. Sam, Dean, and Cas were all eager spectators now.  
The werewolf growled louder at the thing on the car, egging it on to come down. The creature did. To much of Dean, Sam, and Cas's surprise it was the girl Heather who had saved Dean earlier. However, now she had on jeans, boots, and a brown leather jacket.  
Along with a silver knife in hand.  
She crouched down low to ground and swiftly moved towards the werewolf.

The werewolf bared his claws and swung at her, but she blocked and moved underneath him, smashing her elbow into his jaw with a large crack and then moving away again. The werewolf howled in pain, but she gave him no chance for recovery. She gave a high kick to the same wounded jaw, and then used the same momentum to push her body off the ground, and wrap her thighs around the werewolf's neck, swinging around and crashing to the ground along with him. She quickly rolled off and gripped the knife in her hand. The werewolf went to swing at her from the ground, but she grabbed his wrist and, with an incredibly strength, swung it back down to the ground, pinning him there.  
She straddled the monster and quickly stabbed his heart. The werewolf screamed before he died. She pulled the knife out of the monster and slowly got up, breathing heavily.

"Who are you?" Dean asked after a long pause.

The woman looked behind her and to Dean, completely forgetting that the trio was still there. She stared into Dean's eyes without answering, her wild strawberry blonde hair sticking to her lips and curling around her face and heaving chest.

"What are you?" Sam asked louder. The woman tensed and looked to him as well. With no warning she started to sprint down the way. But Cas would not let her go so easily. He quickly healed himself, then disappeared and reappeared in front of her, immediately blocking her way.

"Now," Cas boomed darkly. The woman looked genuinely frightened then. She quickly back tracked a few feet and then stopped. Cas started to move towards her, his eyes growing angrier and angrier.

Suddenly, she pulled out a blue-violet colored, thick goop from her utility belt and threw it at the angel. Needless to say, Cas was rather surprised. He flinched, paused, and touched his face where the majority of the goop had landed, and then continued towards the girl, seemingly unharmed. She held her ground, although the fear did not leave her eyes until he touched her. Cas began to lay his hand down on her forehead slowly.

"Cas, don't!" Dean called, knowing that Cas had every intention to kill her. But Cas didn't listen to Dean, not this time. He laid his full hand on her forehead, never breaking eye contact with her.

And then there was nothing.

No bright lights, no screaming. Slowly, the fear in the girl's eyes was replaced by triumph.  
With viper reflexes she punched Cas in the face with a crack, pulled out her knife and cut at his hand. Cas sneered in a sudden bolt of pain.

"You've been de-angeled," she snarled, punching him once more in his throat, bringing him to his knees. "Bitch," She finished.

And with that she sprinted down the way she had come. Dean and Sam ran over to Cas and held him, wiping away the goop and calling his name. A roar of an engine was heard from ahead, and Sam and Dean looked up to see the woman backing up in a black, Yamaha crotch rocket.

The woman who had saved Dean twice now had just left a dead werewolf and hurt angel in the dust of her speeding motorcycle.  
Dean had to admit, it was pretty hot.


	7. Chapter 7

"How's he doin'?" Dean asked as Sam as he stepped out of a spare bedroom in the Bat Cave.

"He's sleeping," Sam shrugged.

"He's what?" Dean asked, slamming down one of the books he was unpacking.

"Sleeping," Sam repeated with a sigh.

"I don't understand," Dean said almost angrily, holding his head in his hands, "How could he be asleep? He's a goddamn angel!"

Sam shrugged and started helping Dean unpack, although Dean wasn't doing much of that anymore. He was too submerged in his mind then, too deep in the memory of what had happened mere hours ago to do something as trivial as unpack now.  
How had that bitch taken away Cas's angel juice?

* * *

"It's gonna be alright, Cas, buddy," Dean reassured as he and Sam carried the bleeding Cas over to the hood of the Impala.

"What's wrong with me?" Cas choked out, his voice even raspier than usual due to the fast punch to the throat "Heather" had inflicted.

"I don't know, Cas, I don't know," Dean quickly responded, getting more and more frantic by the second. Dean looked up at Sam and said, "We need to get out after her. You look after Cas in the backseat. I'll drive."

Sam nodded quickly in agreement, pulling Cas's arm around his shoulder as he hulled him into the backseat, Dean taking the driver's seat. Soon, they were speeding out of the parking garage.  
However, after a long and pointless pursuit, Sam informed the impassioned Dean that Cas was in bad shape and in need of the supplies back at the stronghold.  
Finally, Dean relented and started the drive back to Lebanon, KS.

* * *

Dean walked into the room where Cas lay, knocking lightly on the door he had already opened. Cas had been sleeping when Dean knocked, but awoke immediately to the noise.

"Hey," Dean breathed, "How you feeling, Cas?"

"I'm feeling," Cas replied, his voice still obviously sore and also groggy from the sudden upheaval from his rest.

Dean sighed and pulled up a chair next to Cas's bedside. Cas refused to look at Dean, and thus a long, awkward silence ensued.

"I'm embarrassed," Cas finally croaked out.

"Ah, don't be. We all get our asses handed to us at one point or another," Dean teased.

Cas turned and looked at Dean straight in the eyes; serious.

"I'm supposed to protect you, Dean," Cas stated, obviously in more than physical pain.

Dean looked away and said, "It's ok, Cas."

"I'm tired, Dean," Cas replied after an even longer pause.

"I know..." Dean mumbled, burying his head in his hands, "I'm tired of everything, too..."

"No, I mean I am physically exhausted, Dean," Cas restated.

Dean looked up at the angel and realized that it was just like 3 years ago when Cas had called him from the hospital.  
Cas was simply...human.

Dean gave him a sad smile and a pat on the shoulder as he stood up and gingerly mumbled, "Get some rest, Cas."

* * *

Dean stumbled out of the spare room, now feeling his own fatigue settle back in.

Sam sat at the desk, reading, when Dean came out. He looked up from his books and asked, "Well?"

Dean shrugged, "Like we thought: human."

"You think it'll last?"

"Who knows, man. I'm just surprised we came out of that alive!" Dean exclaimed.

"Yeah..." Sam trailed off, "About that..."

Dean looked up at Sam as he opened up a beer, "What?"

"Well," Sam started, leaning in, "don't you think that's a little strange?"

"What is? That we got out of there alive? Sam, c'mon! We survived and pervented the apocalypse, I think we can handle one little girl!" Dean chuckled.

"No, but she could have killed us!" Sam pursued, "I mean, did you see her strength? She took on that werewolf in hand-to-hand combat and _won_. She even took down an angel! No, make that ten! So why not us? Hm? In fact, why us at all?"

"So lemme get this straight," Dean replied quickly, getting a little aggravated, "You're saying she's protecting us? From what? Why now? I'm sorry, Sammy, but I'm not going to be sending out thank you gift baskets any time soon to some bitch who broke our angel!"

Sam took a deep breath before replying, "I'm not saying we thank her, Dean. But she did save us. Twice. And that's at least a little to go on."

Dean sighed and nodded, "Yeah, yeah, I get it..."

Sam handed Dean a book, "Now, let's get to work."

"Woah, woah, man," Dean grimaced, pushing the book away after a long gulp of his beer, "We just got back from a two-in-one hunt. Can't we make like Cas and sleep?"

"Cas watches over us when we sleep, Dean. I think it's about time we return the favor," Sam finished, taking his cup of coffee and toasting it towards Dean before submerging himself back into the book.

Dean gave another losing sigh, half-heartedly tilted the beer bottle back towards his brother, and opened the heavy book. His tired and weak eyes strained for the letters.  
Damn, he was getting too old for this.


	8. Chapter 8

Dean slammed a book shut and hid behind his large hands, "This is hopeless! There is nothing in any of these books that talk about purple slime!"

Sam sighed and closed his book as well, "Yeah..."

Dean turned to Sam, "So, what's our next move, tiger?"

Sam took a minute to sort out his thoughts. He had figured a few hours ago that what they were facing was not going to be found in century-old books. Obviously, this was something new.  
Finally, Sam turned to Dean with a sigh and said, "We summon Descartes."

"Who?" Dean asked, squinting his eyes at his clearly delirious brother.

"Descartes," Sam repeated, opening up one of the many books in front of him and paraphrased, "he's an evil demon who is rather well known as a following grunt of Crowley."

Dean gave a little patronizing smile and said, "You really need some sleep, Sam."

"No, listen, Dean!" Sam said, turning back to his older brother, "That woman is obviously trying protect us, right? We already agreed on that! My best guess is that she's hanging outside of this place right now, ready to get anything that may try to hurt us! So we go outside, summon Descartes, she steps in, we kill Descartes, and then get her before she runs away again!"

Dean opened his mouth in protest when a growl came from behind him, "I'm in."

Both the brothers looked behind Dean's shoulder in surprise to find a weak-looking Cas standing before them. He repeated, "I'm in."

Dean started, "Cas, you're in no position to—"

"I am actually the only one in the position to make this decision, Dean. I was sent to watch over you and I have failed thus far. However, I am still in charge of how we go about obtaining and destroying this woman," Cas finished. He turned to Sam, "So let's do it. I'm in."

* * *

A mere hour later they were outside and had candles lit around the demon summoning sigil.  
The only thing missing was a devil's trap, but they had meant that. They wanted a fight.

Sam nodded to Dean. Dean took the nod and started to recite in Latin incantation: "_Et ad congregandum / Eos coram me_."  
Sam lit the match and through it into the bowl.

"No time to play today, boys, I have a very important meeting," a British accent replied coolly behind the three. They all turned around to find a nicely dressed, bearded man standing behind them.

"Team Freewill. Nice to meet you all. But I must say, I waasn't expecting the whole gang to be here," Descartes continued. He paused and tilted an eyebrow towards Cas, "Except, your wings have been clipped. Who could've done that?"

Cas almost snarled at Descartes, quickly replying, "Where is Crowley?"

"Is that really why you had me come all this way? I'd have expected better from you boys," Descartes almost laughed.  
Of course the Winchesters hadn't called upon the demon for something as hopeless as that. However, it had been there cover up story for bringing the demon here in the first place.

Dean revealed the demon knife and pointed it towards Descartes, saying, "Tell us now, Descartes."

"Oh," Descartes mocked frightened, "So scared."  
With a sly smile and chuckle he furrowed his eyebrows ever so slightly, throwing the three men across the forest's floor and pinning them against trees.  
"Now," Descartes smiled more violently, "Shall we really play?"

Suddenly, Descartes gasped and gagged, the blade of a sword protruding from his chest.  
"W-what?" Descartes choked out.  
With a twist of the blade, a yellow light shown from within him and destroyed the demon.

Descartes went limp and fell off the blade and onto the dirt ground. Standing behind the man was "Heather", holding a bloodied sword that resembled that of the Winchester's own knife.

Immediately, they were let go from the hold Descartes had had on them.  
The girl quickly looked at them and started to run, but Dean knew better this time. He took off top speed towards her and grabbed her arm before she could escaped. He pulled her back around and punched her in the face.  
Thinking that would knock the small body out, he loosened his grip on her arm so he could catch her falling body. However, she was too strong for one simple punch. She took advantage of his weakened grip and swung around, kicking the side of his face with her heel. Dean fell to the ground with a bloodied temple.

The girl turned to run again, but by that time Sam and Cas had both reached her. They stood in the way of her path. She turned to run the other way, but Dean had gotten up and stood there too. She had nowhere to run.  
The trio had suspected this kind of stalemate would happen. The girl would have no problem harming or even killing the angel to escape, but if she was protecting Dean and Sam then there was no way she would brutally hurt the two men just to escape.

The girl sighed and gave up, sheathing her sword.  
As soon as she did so, Cas punched her in the face, knocking her out this time. She fell to the ground in with a soft thud, Cas standing over her and shaking his hand. He looked up at the two shocked Winchester's as he muttered, "You two make that look easier than it truly is."

Dean shrugged towards Sam, pretty proud of their angel, despite not having any powers.

Sam sighed heavily and said to the other two, "Whatever, let's just get her inside quickly. We'll bury Descartes later."

The other two had no trouble in complying as they picked up the petite body and carried her inside.


	9. Chapter 9

Bang!  
Dean slammed his fist into the girl's cheek, creating a rather bad bruise on the soft skin. None the less, she awoke.

They had tied her to a chair with iron chains and drawn a devil's trap around it.

She let her head hang to the side where the hunter had punched it, her hair obscuring her eyes.  
The first thing she remembered seeing was the marble tile. She remembered stories of the chamber where The Men of Letters had gathered so many years ago. How the extravagancy of the architecture had been the best of its age, how the library had dated centuries back, even more extensive than the ones in Washington.  
In awe, her eyes carefully traced upwards, greedily taking in the site of the immense amount of information that laid at the Winchester's fingertips.

"Who are you?" Dean barked, bringing the girl back to reality. Right now, she had to deal with this situation.

She flipped her long, strawberry-blonde locks over her shoulder as she turned to face Dean Winchester. She could feel her cheek already growing swollen.  
In reply to his question she simply stared him in the eye. She knew her orders.

As she stared down Dean, Sam sprinkled holy water on her, as well Borax, and then cut her pale arm. Nothing.  
No smoke, no burning, no screaming, no discolored blood.  
She held eye contact with Dean.

Cas pushed Dean out of the way and exchanged places with him, now staring down the girl angrily, "Were you the ones who killed those angels?"

She stared back at him, emotionless.

"How?" Cas yelled.

She did not reply again.

"WHY?!" Cas screamed, slamming his hands on the arms of her chair. She did not flinch, although a small hint of regret now pooled in her eyes.

"C'mon, Cas, that's enough," Dean said, pulling Cas away from her.  
If Dean had learned one thing while he was down in Hell, it was to not get emotional when torturing.

Sam took Cas away for a moment, leaving Dean and the girl alone.

"I'm going to ask you again: who are you?" Dean said slowly.

Once again, she did not reply.

Dean nodded and said, "Alright, then. We'll do this the hard way."

He proceeded to walk over to one of the long desks and shuffle through some belongings that lay on top of it. The girl strained her neck a little to inspect what objects they were and saw that they were, in fact, hers.

In fact, they were.  
While Sam was tying her up, Cas and Dean and gone out in the forest and scavenged for hide out. They soon found her motorcycle next to a tree she had been camped out in. Inside the motorcycle they had found several cell phones, fake I.D.'s, credit cards, smaller, collapsible weapons. Basically anything you would find in the glove compartment of the Impala.

Also, the sword that the girl had used to kill Descartes lay on the table. This made her rather uncomfortable in her seat.

"So, you're human," Dean said nonchalantly, rifling through her I.D.'s, "And _not_ Heather. That's too bad. I like girl's named Heather."

He smiled over at the now clearly distressing woman, very happy with the reaction he got from going through her stuff. Girls never liked it when you touched their stuff.

Dean brought the deck of I.D.'s over to her, playing around with them in his hand.  
"So," Dean started, "What's your real name then."

She turned her face away and bit her lip, not answering.

"Where did you get this?" Dean asked secondly, holding up the blade that killed demons.

She closed her eyes and didn't reply.

"How did you break our angel?" Dean asked a little louder.

She didn't reply.

"How can we fix him?" Dean yelled.

She shook her head a little bit.

"Tell me!" Dean yelled, stabbing his own demon blade into her left hand that gripped the chair arm.

A small squeal escaped her lips, but no yell of pain.  
Dean slowly backed off, leaving the blade in her hand. He roughly turned over her right arm to reveal a tattoo he had examined while carrying her in and taking off her jacket.

It was a ten digit number with dashes in between the first three and the last four. A phone number.

"What number is this for?" Dean asked softly, his face only inches away from hers.

She finally opened her bright green eyes and turned them towards Dean's. She had somehow regained her deadpan expression as she stared at Dean. However, Dean now saw something in her eyes that had not been there before he mentioned the number. Leverage.  
Fear.

Dean gave a small smirk as he said, "Your employee?"

He roughly pushed off of her chair, pulling the knife out of her hand. She only flinched.

Dean turned his back and pulled out his cell phone, "Should I call it? Let them know you've failed?"

She didn't reply, however obviously frantic now. It looked as if she was trying to speak, but glue was stuck in the inside of her mouth. Her eyes pleaded though.

"Fine," Dean said, starting to dial the number. Right before he hit the call button, though, she broke.

"No! Stop!" her small, equally as petite voice finally yelled. Dean paused, waiting for her to go on. She looked down at the ground, clearly ashamed in herself for cracking.  
"My name is Brittney," she took a deep breath and looked up at Dean with a fake sort of confidence before continuing, "I'll heal Castiel. You can even kill me afterwards. But please..."

Dean turned his full body back to her, a little surprised that she knew Cas by name, and at how wholly frightened she was at the idea of Dean calling the number. He waited for her to finish, though.  
Her lip quivered, she was fighting back genuine tears now as she stared up at the man, really pleading this time as she barely whispered, "Just please don't call that number."

* * *

Sam had taken Cas into the his own room to calm down.

Cas sat on the bed like big child, pouting at not being allowed to participate in the torture.

"I do not understand," Cas frowned at Sam, "She killed my brethren. Why don't I get to interrogate her?"

"Because your emotions will compromise you," Sam said calmly, furrowing his eyebrows upwards, feeling sympathy for the angel.

"So..." Cas pouted, crossing his arms.

Just then, Dean entered, pushing Brittney roughly in front of him.

They all stood up and looked down at the short woman. She stared at Cas, though, looking angry and frightened at the same time by the angel.

"Everyone," Dean announced, "this is Brittney. She's agreed to bring back Cas's powers."

Dean shoved Brittney forward towards Cas after an awkward moment of silence. She looked the angel up and down skeptically before turning to Dean and saying, "I'll need my utility belt."

* * *

Dean returned soon with the utility belt in hand. The scene had not changed. Sam guarded Brittney from behind as she uncomfortably tried to avoid Cas's furious eyes that stared down at her without rest.

"Here," Dean barked as he tossed the utility belt onto the bed in front of her.

She took a small gulp and said in a small voice to Cas, "You'll need to sit down, please."

Cas looked over to Dean for approval. Dean nodded and, hesitantly, Cas sat down on the bed.

As Brittney went through the utility belt to find what she was looking for, Sam pulled Dean aside and whispered, "What if this is a trap?"

"What?" Dean replied, unbelieving.

"What if whatever she's about to put in Cas is going to kill him? Separate his wings, or whatever?" Sam continued a little more urgently.

"She seemed pretty genuine, Sammy," Dean replied.

"Yeah, she was convincing as a regular partygoer when she pulled you out of the way of the bus, too!"

"Well what do you want to do then? Just let Cas stay human?" Dean remarked.

A small cough came resonated from behind them that came from Brittney. They turned around to look at her, seeing that she held a seemingly proscribed eye dropper.  
"I'm ready," her small voice announced.

"Wait," Dean said. She stood still.  
"What's in that?" Dean continued.

Brittney rolled her eyes, "Angel medicine. I don't know, I'm not a scientist."

"What will it do if you put it on us first?" Sam asked shortly.

"You'd probably explode," she replied equally as shortly.

Sam and Dean looked at each other with wide eyes and then back to her. Dean sputtered out, astonished, "Then you're not puttin' it in him!"

"Well, your human body couldn't handle it, now could you? It's for angels, not humans," Brittney explained with an impatient sigh.  
"Here," she said, turning to the desk that resided in the room, "Watch."

She let one of drops of the clear liquid drop on the wood of the table.

Immediately after hitting the table, a small, Bonsai looking tree grew on the desk where the liquid had landed.

Sam, Dean, and Cas's eyes grew even wider in astonishment than before.  
They quickly moved over to the desk and looked at the tree in complete awe.

"Is that—?" Cas started.

"One hundred percent distilled grace. Yep," She said proudly with a little bounce on her heels.

"Where did you get that?" Dean asked, poking at the tree's leaves.

Brittney shrugged, "I don't know."  
Before she allowed Dean, Sam, or Cas to ask any more questions, though, she followed up with, "So do you want me to put it in your angel or not?"

They all stood up straight and looked to one another. Slowly, they nodded.

Cas sat back down on the bed. Brittney kneeled down beside him on the bed and gently put her hand on his forehead, muttering, "Put your head back."

He complied and she gently plopped three drops of the grace into each eye.

Cas blinked a few times, looked to Sam, then to Dean, and blinked again.

"Well," Dean asked, "Feel any different?"

With a swish of feathers Cas had disappeared from the bed. In the same second he reappeared next to Dean, causing both the men to jump. Cas gave a throaty giggle, glad to be an angel again.

"Happy?" Brittney asked.

Dean grimaced at the pretty girl and replied, "Not just yet."

He grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the room as she protested: "Hey! Let me go! I fixed your stupid angel, ok?"

Before she could get one more syllable out, though, Dean had pushed her into another empty room and looked at her with a fake smile, saying, "Right, but remember what you said? You said I could kill you afterwards."

And with that Dean slammed the door shut and locked it. A series of pounding fists in protest followed afterwards.

He turned to Sam and Cas who now stood in front of him in astonishment. Dean smiled at them and said over the knocks from the inside of the room, "This is gonna be fun."


	10. Chapter 10

"What the hell, Dean?" Sam yelled at as soon as the door slammed shut.

Dean walked past Sam with a heavy sigh, marching over to the mini fridge to get himself some Scotch.

"Listen, Sammy," Dean said, pouring himself the drink. He paused, turned back to Sam and said before raising the glass to his lips, "We're going to kill her."

"Dean, she saved Cas!" Sam protested.

"I agree with Dean," Cas interjected.

"Cas!" Sam whined.

"She may have brought my spiritual powers back, but she is the one who took them away firstly," Cas explained, "In addition, she murdered ten angels. She is not innocent, Sam."

Sam sighed, knowing that he was on the verge of losing this battle already. But for some reason he just knew that killing the girl Brittney was a bad move. But how could he convince them, especially Dean?

* * *

Brittney had stopped pounding against the impermeable door and started trying to be useful with the precious time she had left.

Of course she had been in tighter fixes before...or had she?

She began examining each corner of the room, searching for an air duct or some sort of alternative exit. But there was nothing.

She refused to give up, though.

Brittney calmed herself and steadied her breath.  
_You're ok,_ she told herself, _You got this._

She began to tap at each wall in different places, looking for a hollow place in which she could break down and make an attempt at an escape.

Best case scenario: She broke a few bones and got out to see another day.  
Worst case: Dean Winchester got his hands on her.

* * *

"Ok, ok!" Sam persisted, "But she knows stuff! Like, why she killed those angels or why she's looking over us. I mean, we're the first to know that angel's aren't the most trustworthy creatures—no offense, Cas—and so maybe she was in the right? Maybe they were attacking her? And she's already saved our neck three times! That has to be worth something, no matter what the context!"

"Why are you so adamantly on her side, anyway? Huh?" Dean suddenly leered.

Sam pursed his lips and took a deep breath, avoiding Dean's scrutinizing eyes. When he looked at him like that it felt like he had done something wrong even though he knew he hadn't.  
"Look," Sam started, trying to remind himself that this was the correct opinion and that he was innocent, "I just don't think it's in our best interest to kill her right now."

"Why not?!" Dean yelled, "Because she saved us a few times—two of those times because I wanted her to, none the less!—and because she undid something awful and unexplainable to Cas that she inflicted in the first place?!"

"No!" Sam yelled back, "Because we can't explain what she did to Cas, but she can! She could be an asset!"

* * *

Brittney stopped when she heard the yelling outside of the door.

She immediately quit her futile attempt at breaking out and redirected her efforts on trying to hear the conversation that was occurring only a few yards away.  
She grabbed a glass that was laying on the extra desk and pressed the opening to the surface of the door, resting her ear on the butt of the glass.

She listened silently, trying to silence her breath and slow her heartbeat as she learned that one of the Winchesters was actually trying to fight for her freedom.  
Or, something close to it.

* * *

"Sam," Cas interrupted, "I understand what you are saying."

"You do?" Sam asked incredulously.

"You do?" Dean said, equally as surprised.

"Yes," Cas continued, "However, I cannot allow her to continue walking this earth. She is a scoundrel and a murderer and she should be brought to justice—"

"But it's not justice, Cas!" Sam interrupted, "Because you don't know her side of the story!"

"Fine!" Dean said, grimacing as he downed the rest of the Scotch before slamming the glass down on a table, "Let's go get her side of the story, then."

* * *

At this news, Brittney immediately backed away from the door.

She quickly repositioned the glass to where she had found it before concentrating her complete energy on calming down.

This was the worst case scenario. Dean Winchester was now opening the door and she would have to take that long walk back to the chair where she would die.

Oh, why had she been so stupid and taken away the angel's powers? If it was the one thing The Instructor had emphasized when she was given her assignment it was to not mess with Dean's angel unless you wanted to deal with him!  
And now she would.

And then she did relax.

Because she would die.  
It would be over.  
Her muscles started to relax as Dean opened the door, Sam and Cas over his shoulder.

"Come here," Dean barked out to the cowering girl.

She took a deep breath, straightened her shoulders and walked past them to the chair of death.

* * *

Brittney sat down willingly, to much of the boys' surprise.

"What," a small voice squeaked out, unafraid.

"Why did you kill the angels?" Cas demanded.

"And how?" Dean added.

She was silent for a moment, looking to each one of the their faces. She was surprised beyond words. She had been prepared to die, but they had just wanted to know why those dumbass angels had died at her hand.

Now, without death tickling her lips she felt the sickening will to live crawl back up inside her. She gulped, knowing that her next choice of words would mean life or death.

"I was told to," she replied, knowing that sticking to the bare minimum of the truth was always the best course.

"By who," Dean prompted.

She looked down at the number on her right arm that Dean had threatened her with only minutes ago.

Dean followed her eyesight and pointed to her wrist, "Who are they?"

She looked up at his eyes, trying to act as innocent as possible, and then back down to the ground.

Dean sighed and rolled his eyes, "Don't worry I'm not going to stab your hand again. _Or_ punch you!"

Sam did a double-take at his brother at these words, almost shouting, "You what?!"

"Well I had to get the information out of her somehow!" Dean explained much to no effect.

"She appears unharmed," Cas observed.

"Yeah, she's pretty tough, I gotta admit," Dean lowly muttered to the two.

"No, I mean," Cas explained, walking over to Brittney and lifting up her left hand to the brothers, "she is unharmed."

The hand was completely healed.

Sam and Dean gaped at it for a little longer than a moment.  
Quickly, Dean walked over to Brittney as well and held the hand. It was soft, pale, and completely stab-wound-free.  
He then grabbed her chin and tilted it up to examine the cheek he had punched. It had a small, naturally flushed, and flawless. It looked like it hadn't been punched a day in its life.  
Somehow, she had healed.

"I'll be damned," Dean whispered.

Brittney snapped her head from out of his hand and stared up at the awe-struck eyes with much disdain.  
She didn't like to be handled like some science experiment.

Sam hesitantly approached her, and asked calmly, "How did you do that?"

She stared up at him, knowing that her fate was sealed. They would never excuse not killing a freak.

Just then, a cell phone rang and made all four of them jump a little from the unexpected break in tension.

Sam reached into his pocket and hit the "ACCEPT CALL" button.

"Hello?...Hey, Garth..." Sam talked into the speaker, looking over to Dean with a frown, "A case in Minnesota?..." Sam's head swirled over to Dean, his eyes suddenly wild as his calm voice repeated, "Are you sure about that?...Ok...Yeah, we'll leave now. Bye, thanks, Garth."

Sam hung up and moved the back of his hand over his mouth as he searched for words. Dean looked concerned and insisted, "Well?! What is it?"

Sam looked up at Cas and Dean sadly and said, "There's been a lot of demon activity in Morris, Minnesota. 6 demons dead, one angel dead."  
Sam paused and glanced over at Brittney, who was noticeably listening intently, "Wings severed."

All three turned to Brittney.

"Did you know about this?" Dean breathed.

Brittney looked away from him and cleared her throat as she replied, "Not this one, no."

Dean took a deep breaths and stared down at Brittney for a very long time. She wouldn't have been surprised if he had taken the sword right there and whacked off her head. However, she was shocked at the next move he chose instead:

"Let's pack up and move out," Dean instructed.

"What?" Sam asked shocked.

"Dean, what are you speaking of?" Cas asked, also a little confused.

Dean turned to the two and said, "We need to go to Minnesota and figure out whatever's going on."

"But..." Sam started, nodding towards Brittney, "What about her?"

Dean looked back over at Brittney who stared back up at them in complete surprise.

Dean paused, looked over to Brittney. She stared back up at him, her eyes completely still.  
She was not afraid. And Dean knew it.  
He almost spat out: "We take her with us."


End file.
